BOSTON, MA -- 07/02/08 --
Harvard Business
School (HBS) Dean
Jay O. Light and
William C. Kirby, T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies and
Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard and
Chairman of the
Harvard China Fund,
announced yesterday the opening of a Harvard office in Shanghai. The
office will serve both HBS and the Harvard China Fund under the auspices of
the Office of the Harvard University Provost. The University plans to open
another office in Beijing this autumn. Both locations will enable
Harvard University to explore a range of
potential activities in support of its research and teaching programs.
Light and Kirby made the announcement in Shanghai.
Harvard's new China offices will have a number of key responsibilities,
including:
-- Providing local coordination and assistance to Harvard's various
faculties and schools and assisting individual faculty and students engaged
in research, teaching, or other academic activities in greater China;
-- Offering Harvard students on-the-ground services for regional study and
internship programs;
-- Facilitating admissions interviews and programmatic events for
prospective students;
-- Coordinating and promoting further collaboration between Harvard and
Chinese universities and other organizations;
-- Building deeper connections to a growing Harvard alumni population in
the region.
For Harvard Business School, the Shanghai office will also house a
researcher affiliated with the School's Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific
Research Center. Operated under the direction of the HBS Global Initiative, other Business
School international research centers are located in Latin America, Japan,
India, and Europe. Each center has an executive director who leads a team
of case writers, all of whom are fluent in the language of the host country
and familiar with its customs, companies, universities, and governments.
"We are very pleased to be opening this new facility in greater China,"
said Dean Light while visiting with HBS alumni in Shanghai as part of the
School's worldwide Centennial celebration. "Harvard Business School has
had a longstanding interest in and commitment to the region. Today,
increasing numbers of HBS faculty list China among their top areas of
geographical interest. The addition of this new office will add
significantly to our research and our understanding of the world's
fastest-growing economy. We look forward to working with and learning from
Chinese businesspeople, government officials, and many others in the years
ahead."
"With this visit to China, we are proud to follow in the footsteps of
Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust, who recently received an
honorary degree from Peking University, and of more than 600 Harvard
University alumni and friends who came to China in March to participate in
the largest gathering of Harvard graduates ever held outside the United
States," noted Professor Kirby. "Through the resources of the Harvard
China Fund, Harvard University will continue to investigate and increase
its options in greater China. Generations of Harvard College students and
Harvard graduate students will benefit greatly from these opportunities now
and in the future, and these initial steps towards establishing a more
comprehensive set of facilities in the region will further the University's
research and teaching missions."
With its rich heritage of global leadership in management education and
research, Harvard Business School is deeply rooted in the international
economy. Working closely with companies, universities, and governments, HBS
aims to help shape the perspective, knowledge, and insights of managers
around the globe.
Among existing programs and projects in China, HBS, in conjunction with
Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management and the China
Europe International Business School (CEIBS), runs the Senior Executive
Program for China, which addresses the business and management demands
faced by Chinese executives.
The Global CEO Program for China was created by HBS, CEIBS, and IESE
Business School to prepare Chinese chief executives to build world-class
enterprises in the global economy.
In addition, for a number of years HBS faculty members have helped
academics from China and other countries learn to develop, write, and teach
case studies -- a method of teaching management and leadership pioneered by
the School soon after its founding in 1908.
About Harvard Business School
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is
located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 200 offers
full-time programs leading to the MBA and doctoral degrees, as well as more
than 70 Executive Education programs. For a century, HBS faculty have drawn
on their research, their experience in working with organizations
worldwide, and their passion for teaching to educate leaders who have
shaped the practice of business around the globe.
About the Harvard China Fund:
The Harvard China Fund exists to support the University's engagement with
China. Launched in the fall of 2006 under the auspices of the Office of
the Provost, the Fund is a University-wide "academic venture fund" to
enhance Harvard's teaching and research about China, and in China itself.
It supports major projects in China proposed by Harvard's Faculties and
Schools; it is establishing representative offices for Harvard in China to
support the work of faculty and students; and it is creating
transformational experiences for Harvard University students as they
prepare for a lifelong engagement with "greater China" (including the
People's Republic, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). The mission of the Harvard
China Fund includes supporting interdisciplinary research and teaching
about and in China; focusing Harvard's considerable strengths across the
University toward directly tackling challenges that face China; and
fostering communication and collaboration with Chinese scholars and
institutions. The Harvard China Fund manages the Harvard China Faculty
Grants, the Harvard China Student Internship Program, and the Harvard China
Office(s).
About Harvard University:
Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the
United States. Founded in 1636, it has grown from nine students with a
single teacher to an enrollment of more than 20,000 degree candidates,
including undergraduates and students in 10 graduate and professional
schools. Seven presidents of the United States have been graduates of
Harvard. Its faculty has produced more than 40 Nobel Prize winners.
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Contacts:
Jim Aisner
Harvard Business School
617-495-6157
jaisner@hbs.edu
John Longbrake
Harvard University
617-495-1585
john_longbrake@harvard.edu
